Word on the street: Rihanna and Jay-Z are planning to release a music collab in 2019!
After sources told Page Six the moguls were spotted having a “business lunch” at Wolfgang Puck in Bel Air, Wednesday (February 6), and heard discussing “music and what they can do together,” fans, more specifically Rihanna Navy, began speculating about a possible Rih Rih and Jay music collaboration.
As previously reported, Rihanna confirmed that she’d be dropping new music this year (after three long years) when she replied to a fan’s Instagram comment back in December that asked, “But when is the album dropping Robyn?” She responded, “2019.”
Rih’s lack of sharing details about her forthcoming ninth album has left fans grasping at straws, jumping to conclusions, literally all of the time. However, news of a possible Rih and Jay-Z collab isn’t far fetched given that some of the biggest songs of both their careers — “Umbrella,” “Talk That Talk,” and “Run This Town” — are among some of their most celebrated hits. Not to mention, the two have quite the history. Jay was the one to sign Rihanna to Def Jam back in 2005 and he has long been her musical mentor. So, after a long three-year musical hiatus for Rih, a comeback album featuring Jay would be, dare I say, poetic.
As fans know, Rihanna shot down reports earlier this month that her highly-anticipated ninth album was completed. After one of the 30-year-old singer’s fan pages reposted an Us article that claimed Rihanna had finished the project, Rih set the record straight, commenting: “It ain’t done til it’s done sis.”
It’s been nearly a year since rumors began circulating that Rihanna is working on two albums — one dancehall and one pop. In July, Rolling Stone revealed that Rih Rih is “exploring her Caribbean roots,” and working with some of the biggest names in dancehall and reggae to bring her fans an unforgettable 10-track album. “[Rihanna’s team] have, no lie, 500 records for this project [from] different producers and writers,” an anonymous dancehall producer told the mag. “They’re only choosing 10 records. They’ve been having writing camps and trying to keep them quiet for almost a year and a half now. I’ve been flying to Miami, flying to L.A., cutting records nonstop for this project.”
While details about the project are under lock and key, a second source told RS , “Every artist, every producer, every songwriter in Jamaica or of Jamaican descent has been working on [Rihanna’s album] and has little snippets of publishing or production credits on it.”